The Earthbound Ghost
by Kampe
Summary: Halloween Special! Ariel is a new camper with an attitude. A mysterious spirit has guided her to Camp Half-Blood, where Percy Jackson's adventures are told by the war veterans of the previous generation. Everything is not what it seems. When Ariel goes to claim her birth-right as The Daughter of Poseidon, she will find that Cabin 3 is not as deserted as everyone seems to believe.


**Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson or the Kane Chronicles; they are owned by Rick Riordan. I am making no money off this FanFiction.**

**So, this is a Halloween Special. It is supposed to a prologue to another story I plan on writing. I am not sure if I messed this up, it is certainly a different style of writing to my normal one.**

**Thank you to everyone who reads this.**

**Enjoy!**

**Set after the Giant War: Warning! I have yet to read the House of Hades.**

**The Earth-Bound Ghost**

"Regular."_  
'Ariel's Thoughts.'  
"The Spirit's Thought Speech."  
__**"The Fates."**_

**The Earth Bound Ghost, forgotten and betrayed  
His father gone, his mother dead and best friend in his grave  
Cousin Huntress, lost to her sisters' prejudice  
He was but a puppet obeying his family's desire  
His love left him for another, his friends found new lives to lead  
And at rival's hand dead are his faithful steeds  
Nothing left to live for, the hero took his life  
But Earth's curse must be obeyed, even by Fate  
Now his sister must conjure Egypt's sorcery  
Their rival domain must bow to the power of the sea  
Egypt's sands slowly trickle away  
Precious time is lost every day**

Wind screamed, rain shrieked and thunder growled. The seas raged as lightning struck the ground. So, in other words, Zeus and Poseidon were fighting again.

A girl scurried past a beautiful, emerald, pine tree. Her long, black hair billowed out behind her and her sea-green eyes were wild with fear. A roar sounded behind her. It was a monstrous sound. A brief flash of lightning illuminated the creature.

It towered over the petite twelve-year-old. Its beady, black eyes were focused on the girl. They seemed not to see her, yet they were filled with unprovoked anger. From waist down it had large, beefy legs and stunningly white fruit-of-the-looms. Thick, coarse hair started at its belly button and covered its entire torso.

Its hairy, muscular arms were in position for a rugby tackle. Its black nose dripped moisture that quivered on its golden nose-ring. Its head leant slightly to the right, as if its single, tapered horn was weighing it down.

Suddenly, blue light rippled from the pine tree just as the monster drew level with it. The monster growled angrily and threw itself at the barrier again.

The royal-blue light seemed to dim and began to flicker. The monster smashed into the barrier. Just one more shove and the barrier would shatter.

Time seemed to slow as the unnatural creature flung itself with renewed vigour.

"Archers, fire!" A female voice bellowed. "Swordsmen, forward! For Olympus!"

The warriors met the beast head on, and the girl fainted.

**Line Break**

Ariel felt her mind drift into consciousness. She tried to keep her breathing even, as not to attract unwanted attention. She could feel three presences around her, and all three were at least part human.

"Concussion and a cracked rib, though that appears to be healing. You don't suppose we've got another child of… Never mind. Just give her some nectar and she'll be as right as rain." A soft, female voice ordered.

Ariel frowned in surprise; she had not even noticed the pain that had undoubtedly been in her chest. _'Another child of whom?' _She asked mentally. _'I know both of my parents, and neither have any sort of affiliation with the strange man who guided me here.'_

"Thanks, Harmony. I'll take it from here." The voice that had commanded the attack responded.

"Be gentle now." Another, male, voice scolded. "Don't want to scare her away."

_'Scare me away, how?' _She questioned again. _'I mean, the weird bull-guy was strange. Is it something to do with why he came after me?'_

_"It's got quite a bit to do with the 'bull-guy' as you have so aptly named him. It's Minotaur, by the way." _A male voice chuckled in Ariel's head.

_'Wait, Minotaur? And what do you think you're doing in my head!' _Ariel fumed inwardly. Unless she was very much mistaken, the mental voice belonged to the translucent man who had got her into this mess in the first place.

_"Why, I'm just helping my baby sister out. Never realised he could hold a grudge for so long…"_

_'Who?'_

_"The Minotaur, Algae Noggin!"_

_'Who are you calling 'Algae Noggin' Kelp Head?' _Ariel responded angrily. When she did not receive an answer she immediately softened her voice. One thing she had learned about the Spirit was that he was prone to unexplainable mood-swings. _'Look, I didn't mean to upset you. I'm sorry, alright?'_

_"I'll be fine." _The Spirit's mental voice was choked with grief. _"Maybe it'd be best if you conversed with the living for a while."_

Ariel recognised the order in that statement and she turned her thoughts back to the land of consciousness.

"If I'm lucky, she'll already know. Now shoo!" The female-commander growled playfully.

"Know what?" Ariel decided that now was the best time to make her presence known. The two had barely closed the door behind them when she began to speak.

"Drink this." The other girl responded bluntly. Now that her eyes were open, Ariel could see the girl who had saved her life.

Her stringy brown hair was cut short and ended at her shoulders. She had slightly pointed ears and an upturned nose. Hard, chocolate-brown eyes shone out from underneath her fringe and a glass of what looked like apple juice was clasped in her hand.

The strange thing was that the girl could not have been more than eight and yet she held herself with the confidence of someone much older.

Ariel accepted the drink after a mental nudge from the Spirit informed her that it was safe.

"I'm May." The girl grunted. "Mum named me after an old friend's mother. Sometimes I think it would be nice t'have an original name, you know?"

"Tell me about it." Ariel muttered as she nursed her drink. "I got stuck as Ariel."

The girl, May, assessed her with condemning eyes, it was as if she was looking for something that could make or break the world. The moment passed and Ariel wondered if she had imagined it.

May sighed. "At least we aren't named after war heroes. Most of the Camp, second generation at least, is named after someone who's already made the name famous."

May's brow furrowed for a moment. "Take the two who just left. Harmony's named after an Apollo girl who struck the killing blow on Tityus. Tityus murdered Will Solace when he attempted to heal Nico di Angelo.

The other kid was Luke, he's named after Mum's friend. He was a Hero of Olympus and one of the Heroes of the First Great Prophecy."

_'Apollo? Tityus? Luke? Great Prophecy? Will Solace? Nico di Angelo? Nectar? Olympus?'_

_"Okay kiddo, long story short, the Greek gods exist."_

_'Yeah right and these kids are demi-gods? I bet half these so-called-heroes are frauds. That di Angelo kid sounds especially criminal.'_

_"You did not just say that."_

_'No, Kelp Head, I thought it!'_

_"Did you just insult Nico?"_

_'Yeah, what'cha gonna do? Kill me? Newsflash, weirdo, you're dead!'_

_"There are things worse than death."_

"Ariel! Earth to Ariel!" May called anxiously. Ariel's head snapped up and May continued in a relieved voice. "Thank goodness! You zoned out for one maybe two minutes. What was it anyway?"

"Well, since it seems like everyone here is insane anyway, I'll tell." Ariel decided.

She had never been threatened by the Spirit before. He had said that they were 'siblings' or something. Apparently she had crossed some sort of invisible line and, knowing the Spirit's temperament, she did not doubt that he would go through with his threat.

"Okay so," Ariel continued. "I was just wandering along Montauk Beach, minding my own business, when some weird, overgrown, mutt with glowing red eyes attacks me. Next thing I know it's raining, I'm holding some liquid-sword thing and I'm covered in gold dust. "

May nodded indulgently and made the go-on sign with her hand.

"Then some weirdo walks up to me," Ariel was on a roll now. "He looks at the sword, clicks his fingers, and BAM! It's gone! Then I notice he's see-through and looks like an older male version of me. So I scream a few obscenities at him and he mentions possession. So, of course, I yell at him a bit more."

May raised an eyebrow, as she wondered if Ariel had a death wish.

"Then he goes and laughs in my face! He calls me 'sis' and points me in the direction of this here camp. Apparently my life depends on me coming here. Naturally, I ignore him and go off in the other direction.

He follows me with a stupid grin on his face and I end up seeing that awful pine tree! So I turn around and walk the other way. Of course the pine tree just appears about ten metres in front of me.

I turn around again walk about a mile and Peek-a-Boo! It's the same pine tree! I continue doing this for about two hours during which the Spirit has about one-hundred-and twenty-nine mood swings!"

May was staring at Ariel slack-jawed. She had never heard such an entertaining arrival story. This trumped even Bianca's, and she had wandered about in the desert for half-an-hour before popping inside the boundaries.

"Then the lightning starts causing random fires and that weird bull guy, who is apparently called the Minotaur, charges at me. I make a few jokes about his missing horn and the Spirit beside me calls him 'stupid ground-beef'. So Taury ignores me, and my fabulous insults. and goes after the Spirit!"

May nodded, still dumbfounded, with realization. This was when Ariel met the Minotaur. As for the Spirit? Well everyone knew _him_.

"Once again I've blacked out. I'm now standing there with a _pen_, which disappears moments later, covered in golden blood and the Spirit's standing off to one side muttering about 'Idiotic Ancient Rules'!

Taury then decides to charge me and grab me around the torso. Apparently he cracked my rib. Meanwhile the Spirit's chuckling at my predicament and not lifting a finger to help!"

"You're lucky he helped you that much." May muttered resentfully.

Ariel continued as if May had not said anything. "Somehow I manage to wriggle out of Taury's grasp and fall to the ground, head first. Something seems to cushion my fall, but it's still a hard landing.

The Spirit's nowhere to be seen. So, I advance to the rear and bolt past that tree. That's when you and the cavalry arrived.

Oh yeah, and the Spirit's started talking in my head. He was infuriated when I insulted Nico! He also seems to be claiming that the Greek gods exist."

"They do." Was all May could say. Ariel had angered the most powerful being ever and she was still alive? May was beginning to wonder if the ability to aggravate incredibly powerful beings ran in the family. If it did, getting away with it, until you met the worst of them all, would have to be a genetic trait.

"Fine then, take me…Wherever you have to take me." Ariel acquiesced with disbelief.

**Line Break**

_Five yelling matches, seven 'accidental' appearances of Ariel on top of the climbing wall and seven drops into boiling lava later…_

Ariel's Honour Guard had deserted her. None of them had managed to withstand her tongue-lashing. Armed with nothing but a torch and a terrible temper, Ariel advanced on Cabin 3.

The door refused to budge despite Ariel's best attempts. She took a step back and surveyed the cobwebbed cabin. A loud creak drew her attention. The beautifully engraved door swung open to reveal...

Nothing.

Ariel stepped in, hesitantly. Her courage deserted her as she stepped into the pitch-black cabin. The door swung shut behind her with an almighty bang that even Zeus would have been proud of.

An eerie glow appeared in the centre of the room. It was a sickly green colour mixed with tendrils of brown.

Ariel brushed aside her desire to flee the haunted cabin, but it was her duty to claim her birth-right. She began to walk forward, putting one foot on front of the other until her foot hit something soft.

The mystical glow disappeared and Ariel was plunged into the blackness of Tartarus.

**_"The Earthbound Ghost is cursed for eternity. Lest a daughter of Poseidon learns the ways of the Egyptians and conjures the Red and Black Sands. Time is running out, little one, obey your heart and the Greatest Hero shall rise again!"_**

In the pitch black cabin the corpse lay on the floor. Warm blood still trickled down his wrists, and his grip had never loosened on his faithful sword. His black hair lay splayed about his head as if he floated underwater. Despite the fact that they were not in his sight, his sea-green eyes still managed to stare deep into the campers' souls.

Yet, despite his apparent peace, his mouth was open in a vengeful scream. It is said you can still hear him at night, letting wish for retribution known.

"Many are named after war-heroes yet there is one name never said. One hero never honoured. His name is said to bring the curse down upon all those who utter it.

There are Lukes, Wills, Pipers, Hazels, Biancas and Nicos at Camp, but there is one name avoided at all costs. The most heroic of them all, and yet he drew his last breath alone.

They call him the Earthbound Ghost."

Mist covers the Camp, and it is not just the godly kind. It clouds your vision and obscures what you could be. The Spirit conducts the Mist; he plays in it and thrives in it. Do not blame him though. For it has never been his fault.

Blame Gaia. Blame the Fates, for they are happy to take your fury.

However, you must remember, child, never blame Perseus Jackson.

**How was it? Too dramatic? Awful storyline? Terrible writing? Please, if you have the time, tell me your opinion!**

**I will publish a second chapter, which will contain the first chapter of the sequel, when I publish the sequel. There is now a poll up. The results will determine when I publish the sequel, so please vote.**

**All review responses will be included at the beginning of the sequel.**


End file.
